The Drug Enforcement Administration said today that 124 people had been arrested across the country over the past four days in connection with a performance-enhancing drug trafficking ring.
Officials said the investigation, named Operation Raw Deal, started with more than 30 Chinese companies, which were shipping raw materials needed to make steroids and human growth hormone to manufacturers and labs in the United States and nine other countries.
Since Thursday, the federal government has raided 56 sites in the United States and seized 242 kilograms of steroid and 1.4 million steroid dosage units.
The facilities in which the drugs were manufactured ranged from the basements of homes, to garages, bathrooms and medical laboratories, authorities said.
No names of athletes have been linked to the investigation yet, Rusty Payne, a spokesman for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said in a telephone interview, but thousands of e-mails connecting users to the manufacturers were seized by the federal government.
“If we come across names, are we going to provide them to the leagues? That is going to be the decision of the Department of Justice and the United States attorney’s offices that have those aspects of the case,” Payne said.
Although the government has not gone through the trove of information connecting users to the steroid ring, Payne said: “We have the ability to identify individual customers, and that should send chills down the spines of athletes and high school and college students who were buying from these manufacturers. We can find you, based on our data base.”
Payne said Chinese authorities were cooperating with the investigation. “Rather than publicly name and indict these companies in China, we thought it would be more effective to work with Chinese law enforcement partners and provide them with information so they could go after the companies, which includes as many as 37, that were shipping raw materials,” Payne said. “They have agreed to move forward with their investigation in China. There are a lot of sensitive things that go into dealing with a nation like China. We are pleased so far they have done everything we have asked them to, they have agreed to accept the reports and move forward and that is unprecedented.”
Payne said the World Anti-Doping Agency and the United States Anti-Doping Agency had been partners in the investigation, which has spanned 18-months.
Operation Raw Deal followed on the heals of an investigation in 2005 that targeted eight Mexican steroid manufacturers. After those manufacturers, which authorities said provided four out of every five steroid pills in the world, were shut down, a void was created in the market for performance-enhancing drugs that Chinese companies filled.
“Operation Raw Deal uncovered a clandestine web of international drug dealers who lurk on the Internet for young adults craving the artificial advantage of anabolic steroids,” Karen P. Tandy, the administrator for the Drug Enforcement Administration, said in press release. “Today we reveal the truth behind the underground steroid market: dangerous drugs cooked up all too often in filthy conditions with no regard to safety, giving Americans who purchase them the ultimate raw deal.”
The Drug Enforcement Administration said that many of the labs it raided “were extremely unsanitary, further illustrating the danger in buying these products illegally. For example, recent lab seizures uncovered huge amounts of raw materials being mixed in bathtubs and bathroom sinks.”
The other countries cooperating with the investigation include: Mexico, Canada, China, Belgium, Australia, Germany, Denmark, Sweden, and Thailand.
The investigation, authorities said, was focused on many United States-based Web sites that sold “conversion kits,” which could be used to convert raw steroid powders into a finished product. Investigators also targeted Internet discussion boards where users learned “how to illicitly use, locate and discreetly purchase performance enhancing drugs, including anabolic steroids. Many of the underground steroids labs targeted in this case advertise and are endorsed on these message boards.”
Press conferences are to be held today in New York, San Diego, Kansas City, and Providence. All are scheduled for 1 p.m. E.S.T.
I wonder how many athletes are going to get indicted/suspended...
Finally, now I can sleep tonight. I was getting tired staying up every night worrying about this. I had to take performance enhancing substances just to make up for the lack of sleep.....
I wonder if they'll auction it all off like they do with drug houses and cars...
They could sell to most counties, where it is legal.
This whole situation is pretty stupid. Steroids are far far far less damnaging to the population then alcohol is.. But hey, government makes huge $$ off of booze. 100,000 deaths per year? Fuck it, who cares, they are making money.
...rant..
I guess im of the opinion, legalize almost everything, and actually teach people about how things work, what they do, what the side effects are. In highschool I went to so many 'anti-drug' rallies high as a kite and didnt think twice. When your told weed will make you insane, but you try it and its fun.. when you 14-15 years old you dont think
"Hey, they where wrong about weed"
you thing,
"Hey, they where wrong about every drug"
Think this is different with roids? its not. Big difference in running 100mg/test per week or running 3 grams of trenblone.
I feel bad for the honest people selling this stuff and getting arrested/fined/life changed. Sure, they are in it for the money, but nobody is getting hurt.
What a waste of tax-payer money. Seriously, isnt there a meth epidemic going on? But thats not fun to talk about..
I have a son in 8th grade and a girl in 5th, I'm sure as hell a lot more concerned about the seemingly unchecked and unlimited availability of meth than I am steroids.
__________________
"They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety." --Benjamin Franklin, 1759
Yep, meth is some scary shitif you get addicted too it no doubt about it.
When there is a demand, there will be a supply. even if the US banned all shippments from china (HAH), india or someone esle would be on that shit in a few days. If every underground lab in the US gets shut down, there will be more crooked doctors giving out human grade stuff. Crack down the doctors, and soon enough shipments of human grade stuff start going missing... you see where im going, the war on drugs will never work. Teaching will however, but lie once, its over.
Im very much of individual rights on this one. I dont think the government should tell me what I am able to eat, drink, or put into my body.
Honestly, I think that all drugs should be legalized and there should be a system in place that allows only adults to get them in safe amounts (legalization would allow people to test what amounts are actually safe).
Like someone said, the demand is there and is too strong. I remember way back when I was in D.A.R.E. So many of the people around still went on to experiment with stuff. With these rights do come responsibilities and risks. Just like smoking (why is that legal again?) you know what the risks are and its up to you to accept them. If, after having education on doses, etc. you still wanna OD on coke, meth, whatever then thats on you.
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"The strongest steel goes through the hottest fires."-Anonymous
"When you begin to believe nothing is heavy, all weights become light." -Rossbow
"Just remember, somewhere there is a little Chinese girl warming up with your max."-Jim Convroy
"It's a round hole, dammit. Everyone fits."--Anonymous Mod at Strengthmill
I agree that meth is some scary shit and more needs to be done to stop it. However, the steroids are illegal. Arrest every freaking one of them on the list. Seems to me if the stuff was so great and not bad for you and it would be so profitable, the big pharma lobby would be all over congress' ass to legalize.
__________________
“Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, 'Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapeños.'"
I agree that meth is some scary shit and more needs to be done to stop it. However, the steroids are illegal. Arrest every freaking one of them on the list. Seems to me if the stuff was so great and not bad for you and it would be so profitable, the big pharma lobby would be all over congress' ass to legalize.
And yet marijuana is illegal too
And FYI, you can get growth hormone, steroids, etc. from a doctor. They use weaker compounds to promote growth in children, allow the elderly to obtain hormonal balance, and also preserve muscle mass for patients with HIV/AIDS, and other diseases. The other thing is that steroids are not profitable because there are no patents on them. GH on the other hand is very different.
The pharmacies want to stamp out an illegal trade, not the substance.
__________________
"The strongest steel goes through the hottest fires."-Anonymous
"When you begin to believe nothing is heavy, all weights become light." -Rossbow
"Just remember, somewhere there is a little Chinese girl warming up with your max."-Jim Convroy
"It's a round hole, dammit. Everyone fits."--Anonymous Mod at Strengthmill
__________________
And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
Come on people. I'm calling for an uprise! Who's with me!?
__________________
And major action will certainly make you feel a bit uncomfortable, which is absolutely fine. You've gotta get excited about feeling uncomfortable, you've gotta love feeling slightly uncomfortable, because you know that you're stepping outside the boundaries that you used to create.
Zach Even-Esh
I've made some huge mistakes, but they were necessary, because without them I wouldn't have learned anything.
-Dave Tate
And FYI, you can get growth hormone, steroids, etc. from a doctor. They use weaker compounds to promote growth in children, allow the elderly to obtain hormonal balance, and also preserve muscle mass for patients with HIV/AIDS, and other diseases. The other thing is that steroids are not profitable because there are no patents on them. GH on the other hand is very different.
The pharmacies want to stamp out an illegal trade, not the substance.
backoff bitch. weed is a gateway drug and everyone knows it. I smoked it once, and went straight from weed to smack. WATCH OUT!!
everything should be legalized, distributed by doctors and taxed. Millions of dollars would be made this way. Put it towards health care. Plus, if you smoke, you wouldn't have to worry about your shit being laced with stuff like angledust, fertilizers, or pesticides.
a few years ago, baltimore being the progressive city that it is, distributed clean needles to smack heads to cut back the spread of diseases such as HIV. There needs to be a lot more progressive politicians like this.
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I agree that meth is some scary shit and more needs to be done to stop it. However, the steroids are illegal. Arrest every freaking one of them on the list. Seems to me if the stuff was so great and not bad for you and it would be so profitable, the big pharma lobby would be all over congress' ass to legalize.
Actually, they would be. But cant. Steroids are made all over the world, there is no copyrights, nobody owns patents to any of their structures and they are not even hard to make. Not going to make money in this.
Yeah, arrest them all. Arrest that 70 year old guy that finally feels normal again with these drugs and is improving his health. Arrest the 30 year old who has supplemented test and no longer needs anti-depressants. Arrest 95% of the NFL, arrest the guy who brings his test up to normal and doesnt have to pop viagra everyday because doctors dont want to deal with shit like aas, arrest the aids paitents whos insurance isn't coving the huge costs of pharm grade gear/GH, arrest the cancer patients trying alternate theorpy that has been provin in other countries. Not every single person on that list is some 19yo meathead trying to get bigger biceps.
In the US I could go to the doctors, cut my dick off, and get loaded up on every possible female hormone in existance and it would be perfectly legal. Yet, if I wanted to build a little muscle faster then most people, Id be a criminal.
I'm not saying it should or should not be legal. I am saying it IS illegal and everyone knows it. That means these people are breaking the law. Until the law is changed in the United States, if you do steroids or other illicit drugs you should be punished. Plain and simple. It can't get any more black and white than that.
Laws can be changed. Social norms and mores shift. That's why prohibition failed and was repealed. That's why cigarettes are legal and marijuana is not. Over time things become more and more acceptable and laws are changed. But until then...
My personal belief is that there must be a line drawn somewhere on the continuum of drugs and their use. Drug use is not a black and white deal. It's not all or nothin- prohibition or free-for-all. Cigarettes? Alcohol? Okay. Steroids? Probably okay. Weed? Not so okay. Anything more? No way. I've personally witnessed too much bad shit in my time to be alright with the idea that if people were just educated on the effects of drugs that all would be good. People are stupid. People hooked on drugs? Even more stupid. The drug becomes A-number one in their life and nothing else matters unless it can get them their fix or more drugs.
When I say "hooked" I don't necessarily mean the crack whore selling herself for a rock. It can mean the person hastily doing his job (therefore poorly) just so he can go on his smoke break, to the truck driver snorting crank to stay awake 36 hours on a run. Therefore, I don't believe that drugs are a victimless crime and before anyone makes a statement like "all drugs should be legal" they really need to step back and realize just exactly what that would do.
__________________
“Life is a headlong rush into the unknown. We can hunker down and hope nothing hits us or we can stand tall, lean into the wind and say, 'Bring it on, darlin', and don't be stingy with the jalapeños.'"
I feel bad for the honest people selling this stuff and getting arrested/fined/life changed. Sure, they are in it for the money, but nobody is getting hurt.
This is by far the most naive statement I've read on this board in a long time.
I'm not saying it should or should not be legal. I am saying it IS illegal and everyone knows it. That means these people are breaking the law. Until the law is changed in the United States, if you do steroids or other illicit drugs you should be punished. Plain and simple. It can't get any more black and white than that.
Laws can be changed. Social norms and mores shift. That's why prohibition failed and was repealed. That's why cigarettes are legal and marijuana is not. Over time things become more and more acceptable and laws are changed. But until then...
My stance is out of principle. I find it hypocritical to accept alcohol which by stupidity of its users to numerous deaths on the road with very little penalty until MADD has kept pushing for more punishment. Additionally, I find it odd that someone can have a virtiolic stance against smoething just because it is illegal and then do a 180 when it is legal. I think its dangerous to be that way because as youve said, lots of things have changed showing that the original decision was not always a correct one.
Quote:
My personal belief is that there must be a line drawn somewhere on the continuum of drugs and their use. Drug use is not a black and white deal. It's not all or nothin- prohibition or free-for-all. Cigarettes? Alcohol? Okay. Steroids? Probably okay. Weed? Not so okay. Anything more? No way. I've personally witnessed too much bad shit in my time to be alright with the idea that if people were just educated on the effects of drugs that all would be good. People are stupid. People hooked on drugs? Even more stupid. The drug becomes A-number one in their life and nothing else matters unless it can get them their fix or more drugs.
When I say "hooked" I don't necessarily mean the crack whore selling herself for a rock. It can mean the person hastily doing his job (therefore poorly) just so he can go on his smoke break, to the truck driver snorting crank to stay awake 36 hours on a run. Therefore, I don't believe that drugs are a victimless crime and before anyone makes a statement like "all drugs should be legal" they really need to step back and realize just exactly what that would do.
The problem with prohibition is that it also prohibits information. We are told coke is bad for you, but how many people have decided to take drugs simply just to "see what happens." If we had more and unbiased information, then one could make a more educated decision.
The other thing is that, in case you havent seen the lucrative estimates during a drug bust article, there is a high demand despite the illegality so people will use regardless of the law. Given that, you might as well make it so that they have controlled access rather than go on a crime spree just to get enough money to get their next coke fix.
Finally, if after all the information put out there, you still have a desire to use whatever drug you want, then that is your responsibility and choice. I wish people didnt smoke but they do and it doesnt hurt me directly.
As far as "all or none" there are some countries that have clinics where you can go get high in a controlled environment so that you dont get fucked up where ever and when ever. So there can still be contol.
__________________
"The strongest steel goes through the hottest fires."-Anonymous
"When you begin to believe nothing is heavy, all weights become light." -Rossbow
"Just remember, somewhere there is a little Chinese girl warming up with your max."-Jim Convroy
"It's a round hole, dammit. Everyone fits."--Anonymous Mod at Strengthmill
Go to a gnc and you can buy legal steroids there (fully real, usually a steroid with a methyl group added on.. superdrol, m1t, epistane, havoc, epimass, masstabs, 4ad, etc etc). The problem is not the steroids, its the fact nobody is making any money off of them.
Id rather make my own decisions on personal grounds then go buy the laws of someone who I didnt vote for (im talking about canada here).
How many people here have actually done coke? meth? I don't like to admit it, but even for these drugs the media has taken them for a ride. I'm still here, I am not *too* crazy, I don't weight 110lbs and have a muscle wasting-like condition. I don't regret using any drugs ive done. I regret the lengths I took to get some of them, but those where my decision.
Wait, everyone that has ever done meth/crack/coke/whatever is 100% an idiot. I forgot about that. I was in DARE, I was in a bunch of other crap like that too, that just left me seeking more information because 'drugs are bad' didnt sit well with me.
I'm not saying it should or should not be legal. I am saying it IS illegal and everyone knows it. That means these people are breaking the law. Until the law is changed in the United States, if you do steroids or other illicit drugs you should be punished. Plain and simple. It can't get any more black and white than that.
Ehhh...not so sure. When you consider that the AMA and DEA were both originally against the Anabolic Control Act of 1989, and the fact that it was mainly pressure from those with something to gain from the prohibition (WADA and pharma companies mainly), I don't see that as something a person necessarily has a duty to follow.
I mean, when you're basically lying to the people so that a few groups can make money, and you remove a basic freedom by trying to essentially legislate the rules of sports...I can't take that seriously, and I can understand why others wouldn't either.
It's a sad, sad state when people are willing to throw away freedom for the sanctity of NFL or MLB records. Change that from sad to "fucking stupid" and you get my thoughts on the matter.
Quote:
Laws can be changed. Social norms and mores shift. That's why prohibition failed and was repealed. That's why cigarettes are legal and marijuana is not. Over time things become more and more acceptable and laws are changed. But until then...
Add to that 20 odd years of rampant propaganda that has come from emotional pleas and outright lies.
Any factual data is immediately remanded to an intense scrutiny, and treated with the guilty until proven innocent fallacy; there is burden of proof placed on the one with facts, as it's assumed that the hysteria and lies are factual and must be disproven.
Do you know how the "average" person feels about steroid use? It's not pretty, nor intelligent a position.
Like it or not, it's a niche sub-population of a sub-population. Ironically, the entire American system was set up to prevent such "tyranny of the masses".
But little things like the Constitution and even basic human nature and economics are just ignored when they become inconvenient to those in power (economic or political).
Orwellian metaphors are cliche, but very applicable here.
Quote:
My personal belief is that there must be a line drawn somewhere on the continuum of drugs and their use. Drug use is not a black and white deal. It's not all or nothin- prohibition or free-for-all. Cigarettes? Alcohol? Okay. Steroids? Probably okay. Weed? Not so okay. Anything more? No way. I've personally witnessed too much bad shit in my time to be alright with the idea that if people were just educated on the effects of drugs that all would be good. People are stupid. People hooked on drugs? Even more stupid. The drug becomes A-number one in their life and nothing else matters unless it can get them their fix or more drugs.
AAS aren't psychologically active. That's why they're Schedule III instead of Schedule I.
The ban is based on vague and emotionally-inspired claims of health risks and people getting hurt or killed.
None of it substantiated by clinical data of any sort, mind you. Pure hysterics, which forms the foundation of why "steroids are evil."
Look at the Chris Benoit scare. Wrestler found dead choking on vomit next to a Bible, an empty handle of vodka and a bottle of painkillers after getting struck by lightning. But there was a vial of test in the fridge, so steroids did it!!!!11
I'm satirizing, but that was the gist of many real stories that were written. People believe that, and because the journalists are irresponsible sensationalists that are as stupid as the people they write for, it just continues on and on.
I actually saw an article that was using an "expert" to display how steroids made people uncontrollable. His evidence? Rat models.
Yes, we now use rats to determine how people will behave. Studies in humans don't show the same effects? We'll just ignore those.
I corresponded with the writer of that particular article, and while she seemed mildly interested, I was greeted with the same fallacies of reason. "Well, those are just two studies"....neverminding that her side had *no* studies in humans, just conclusion-jumping based on rat models. Burden of proof? Who needs that. We have hysterical propaganda.
She didn't even realize 600mg of testosterone was a supraphysiological dose based on "her sources".
This is the source of information, folks. These are the people educating you on steroids.
I'd say you likely don't know what you think you know, if the popular media is your only source of information.
For many people, it's the only source.
So we have uneducated people making the laws, uneducated people enforcing the laws, and uneducated people that have no real incentive or desire to change that.
A situation that the US gov't was designed to prevent, not to enforce.
Personally, I'm too jaded to think it will ever change. Too much power is consolidated in the right places, and there's too much inertia for that to ever happen.
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Id rather make my own decisions on personal grounds then go buy the laws of someone who I didnt vote for (im talking about canada here).
How many people here have actually done coke? meth? I don't like to admit it, but even for these drugs the media has taken them for a ride. I'm still here, I am not *too* crazy, I don't weight 110lbs and have a muscle wasting-like condition. I don't regret using any drugs ive done. I regret the lengths I took to get some of them, but those where my decision.
Wait, everyone that has ever done meth/crack/coke/whatever is 100% an idiot. I forgot about that. I was in DARE, I was in a bunch of other crap like that too, that just left me seeking more information because 'drugs are bad' didnt sit well with me.
i'm with you on this.
i've done a variety of illegal and legal drugs. no shame in using them, no regrets in the use of them. i made the decision after doing research on these substances and understanding what may/may not happen (mainly for the hallucinogens i've used). i dont' recommend people go out and use whatever without knowing what they are using.
let me make my own mind up with what i put in my body. i'm an adult...i don't need the gov't telling me what is/isn't ok to use. the gov't doesn't know best - they use scare tactics and false propaganda to garner the attention they need - writers hype up bad stories to sensationalize everything.
yes, soem drugs are bad. but the gov't makes much more money off them being illegal than they would ever make if everything were legal. ya can't tax marijuana...anyone can grow it - its not hard - its the same with many other naturally occurring "drugs". majority of people can't grow tobacco. native americans had ot fight so they could again use peyote in religious ceremonies that have been taken place for centuries. how is that in anyway shape or from right? because its illegal? BS. many cultures all around the world have used and broaden their ways through ingestion of plants/potents to engage in hallucinations. yet, we in the west shun these practices. again, what is wrong with us. why is it wrong to search our (un)conscious minds through these means? i've learned a lot in my experiences.
i know many people who have been told to just go cold turkey when kicking an addiction to some heavy drugs...yea, cold turkey...you can die from withdrawal symptoms. we dont' have the necessary clinics set up to handle this. people use dirty needles because its hard ot find clean ones. such a shame.
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